Rocky seeks to cut 22 jobs but add 11

Faced with increased labor costs, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson recommends that one of his most controversial hirings be axed from City Hall.

All told the mayor recommends that the City Council cut the equivalent of 22 full-time jobs and the equivalent of two part-time jobs while adding 11 new ones — including five in the city's new justice court and two in the city prosecutor's office — leaving the city with 11 fewer full-time employees in the coming fiscal year.

Those job cuts would include 12 layoffs with the other positions being vacant jobs that won't be filled.

Among those who would be cut under Anderson's plan is Blythe Nobleman, a white lesbian the mayor hired as his minority affairs liaison last year. Nobleman's hiring drew the ire of some ethnic minorities who said a person of color should have the job.

"Several of us took a lot of heat for the appointment of Blythe to that position. I continue to stand by the appointment of a lesbian in the minority affairs office," Anderson said. "Unfortunately, in light of the need to cut expenses in many areas of the city, we're recommending that the position held by Blythe be eliminated."

Anderson presented his proposed budget to the council Tuesday, saying that skyrocketing health-care, insurance and pension costs create hard times in the city. The job cuts come in many departments, with accountants, city recorders, police officers, engineers, architects and seven jobs in the concrete maintenance program.

While Anderson shied away from asking for a tax increase, he recommended several fee increases — including rate hikes for youth programs — to meet the city's soaring labor costs.

"We are not proposing a tax increase," he said in his budget speech to the council. "We propose responsible fiscal planning that will meet current challenges."

Those fees center on the construction industry, with fees for various building permits and speciality building permits rising 20 percent. Also, Anderson recommends that business license fees increase by $2 per employee, from $10 to $12. Those costs are applied to businesses to cover the city's costs of providing police, fire and emergency medical services to employees.

As for youth programs, monthly fees for after-school programs would increase over the next three years from $30 currently to $100 in 2007. Discounts are given to poor families. Summer program fees would also increase from $30 now to $50 in three years.